Buenos Aires, Feb. 6 (NA) – National deputy for Unión por la Patria, Nicolás Trotta, today presented a bill to declare the rejection of the creation of the new 'Official Response Office of the Argentine Republic' and to express concern over what he considers an escalation of actions taken by the Government against freedom of expression and the exercise of journalism. In the bill's justification, the former Education minister stated that the creation of this official body represents a 'serious encroachment on democratic guarantees' and is the 'confessed creation of a Ministry of Truth' by 'establishing a state mechanism aimed at conditioning and controlling the circulation of information in Argentina'. According to him, the creation of an 'Official Response Office' to 'verify content' has nothing to do with 'transparency' and its only purpose is the 'control' over the media and the circulation of public discourse. In the text of the bill, accessed by the Argentine News Agency, Trotta recalled that President Javier Milei and government officials have promoted judicial complaints and public aggressions against numerous journalists and communicators, promoting 'stigmatizing discourses that seek to discredit and discipline journalistic work'. For the opposition deputy, since 'La Libertad Avanza' has been in power, a 'climate of permanent harassment towards those who inform and exercise criticism prevails, configuring a scenario of growing vulnerability for the sector'. The Peronist leader also recalled that in 2009, Congress incorporated a reform to Law 26.551 that eliminated prison sentences for defamation and insults and established that expressions related to matters of public interest do not constitute a crime. The former Front for All official considered that the launch of this office to deny supposed press operations constitutes a new step in an 'authoritarian drift' that must be stopped.
'This body cannot remain indifferent to an advance that threatens basic rights and the full functioning of democracy'.
